Human rights commission meets with Aboriginals

The Carrier Sekani tribal council hosted the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to carry out an inquiry into missing Aboriginal women in Canada.

The commission heard from family members of the missing or murdered on August 8 at the Ramada Hotel in Prince George where tribes from the surrounding area were invited to attend.

Jackie Thomas, former chief of the Saik’uz and now land and resource coordinator for the band attended the conference and heard the stories of the victims. She said that it was very moving to hear.

“This sheds light to the situation in Canada I think,” she said. “There’s over 600 missing women in Canada and the hope is that this will shame our government into action.”

Chief Teegee of the Carrier Sekani sent forward the request for the commission to visit Prince George. The request was a direct result of a collaboration between the Native Women’s Association of Canada, the Feminist Alliance for International Women and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

“We recognize the importance of this visit,” said Chief Teegee in a release. “As it is the first time that these international human rights experts have come to Canada to address the rights of women, and the rights of indigenous women and girls in particular.”

Chief Teegee also stated that this is especially important because Canada has refused to conduct their own investigation into missing and murdered women. The press release stated that the investigation is long overdue.